Bark off biscuits, fractions, Swimming lessons,Tubing and video making and visitors.

After demolishing oatcakes for breakfast, we started off working on equivalent fractions. Owens a bit camera shy at the moment , so if he isn't present in the photos, trust me he was here with us.

Then history with Timeline.

Followed by UNO which is great for planning/executive functioning skills ( and a lot of fun).

After this the children decided to make dog biscuits for the pooches.

Both weighed and measured ingredients 

Owen is struggling with noise a lot this week so he left the room whilst Sam did the mixing. Sam isn't impressed with the smell of the cheese or linseed in the dough.

Owen loved cutting the bone shapes out and tried to guess how many we would make from the mixture. 'Wow, 40 Mum!'.

The finished treats, Owen tried them on our doggy testers and they were willing participants.

They then went off for free play whilst I tackled the devastation in the kitchen!

We started with more pizza games this morning (equivalent fractions) , the boys are really starting to grasp the concept now.

Then some history with Timeline. Timeline has always been a good game , not just for the date element but because it also starts great conversations about social and economic history.

After this we watched the rest of the series of  Walking with Dinosaurs: Sea Monsters, which is on Netflix. It's really good but initially caused some consternation because it's produced like a live action documentary and the boys were telling the presenter off.... they knew these animals were extinct. So I had to pause it to explain why they had done it that way.

Owen is saving for something, this is hard for many reasons. Firstly, he obsesses about the item he wants, it becomes all consuming, distracts him and causes anxiety. So I try to redirect him to more positive steps, like finding ways for him to earn the money. We worked out a plan to help him add to his pocket money and he decided which things were the most agreeable to him ;-) . Of course being Owen, he tried to negotiate a better deal and increase the amount I was willing to give. However, after some ( read a lot) of back and forth banter we struck a deal and he enjoyed the work. He vacuumed the stairs, hung the washing out and sorted/emptied the recycling bins etc. I paid up...then horror of horrors our ancient Xbox ..the thing he needed to make his much wanted payment to...well it completely died.

As you can appreciate, this was incredibly disappointing ...que a very long and emotional time. Sam was understanding and quite wisely, decided to busy himself elsewhere. It was tough and I fully understood Owen's upset, particularly when he has so many issues around impulsivity. We had anger, dismay, blame and finally floods of tears at the injustice of this. Finally, he calmed and we had cuddles and he understood I was totally sympathetic to his despair, so we worked out a plan. Sadly, we can't miraculously fix this but at least he knows we are doing our best and these days can accept that a little better. 

Later he had recovered enough to attend his jujitsu class with Sam. Even better, they both found out they are ready to be put forward for their next belt. So the day ended on a high note.

We decided to check how our cultures were doing. Thankfully our hands and iPad screens swabs, weren't too bad. Owens foot swab and the one taken from our Bilbo sensory toy, were pretty grim. The boys were both interested and appalled. 

This morning we had free play, then later we popped out to visit friends and have a good run round in their garden...despite the hail, snow and rain...now if I had suggested that, I can imagine the response.

The next day I take the boys for trial swimming lessons. The instructors are ASD trained and we have to get the children ready for swimming by 9 am. I managed it but I can see Owen struggling if he has to do it regularly at this time..he makes a huge effort and we get there early! Sam finds it fun but a bit perplexing as he just wants to bomb up and down doing lengths. The instructor quickly addresses any communication issues and is good at identifying Owen and Sams coordination issues..she puts together some great ideas and gets them working on it. Afterwards it gets a little busy and Owen feels overwhelmed in the changing room, so has to lock himself in the cubicle to keep calm. Both want to go back and I arrange another 3 sessions at a different time and we will reassess after these. It will be with a different instructor but All of us feel less anxious now I have seen how the team works. 

Back home we have lunch and Owen works on setting up video recording with his friend. They then go on to make various vids together. Sam decides to sit quietly and use his iPad , so I leave him to it. 

Today was Tubing day..we battle the elements to meet up with friends old and new and whizz down the wet slope...it's true, dry ski slopes are MUCH faster in the wet. That, and the fact we are all rather more confident, meant a few scrapes and collisions...still all wicked fun as ever.

Blokey is under there somewhere, Owen scared himself and Sam sat out for a few minutes after this.

Meeting a new family was brilliant!

Sam and Blokey

Climbing back up the hill.

 

After we grab snacks and head off to Blokeys parents to leave her present for Mothers Day, then to the GP's to collect meds and back home for a quick tidy round. Blokey is off to London to see friends , so my Mum is coming over to help out and have a stop over for Mother's Day.

Friday night and Saturday were very hard for Owen, he misses his dad terribly. When Nanny arrives we formulate a plan to get the boys outside and arrange a treat in Town. We visit the Olde Sweet Shoppe, go on a big slide, look round the gallery and visit Pizza Express. Owen then tortures the three of us with his Warhammer Extreme Sour sweets...none of us can eat them...blergh.

In the evening we play board games and have a roast dinner, Nanny and I enjoy a glass of wine and an early night .Next day we take Nanny to the garden centre and buy her a gift for Mothers Day. We stop off for French bread and nibbles, then go back home for a buffet style lunch. 

Later on, before the children go to bed, Blokey makes it home...both boys launch themselves at him , so I have to wait for my cuddle. It's good to have him back.

Back home, growing micro organisms, cooking and more , yes more, Hama beads.....

The week starts slowly as I catch up on the laundry. The boys are happy to be home and make themselves busy on their PC's and watching their favourite programmes. Blokey fits the a minion lights to the children's bedroom walls. We couldn't resist buying them whilst we were away.

The following day Owen decides to do some money handling. We have a huge stash of coins that need bagging up for the bank. My Mum sent some she had too so we get to work on the huge pile of coins. The counting element is easy for Owen but he struggles with organising himself and gets in a muddle. I show him how I stack the coins and he copies the way I do it. We progress quickly after this and have a nice collection of full bags to take to the bank.

Owen is excited to see that the new bags of Hama beads have arrived and starts to look for a design. He sees one he really likes but realises it's very large and complex, so decides against it. When faced with the array of beads he becomes overwhelmed and takes himself off to read for a while. 

This gives me chance to get Sam's breakfast and sort out his medication. Sam decides to to tackle the complicated design Owen rejected...I gulp..in for a penny. I swear I was going cross eyed trying to work with him through this. After a few false starts we settled on me shouting out the number and colours of the beads and him lining them up. It was like some weird language...' 4 blue, 2 black, yellow, white, yellow grey'. It's by far the hardest design we have tackled and we agree it's needs to be done in stages. We made good progress though.

Meanwhile, Owen has decided what he would like to do but is again having problems with executive functioning, so I give him a hand. Here is his finished work, it's a Wolf Paw coaster for Blokey.

After lunch Owen has some quiet time with his IPad and Sam goes to work on his Kerbal project. He explains that it's to design spacecraft and rockets. It's a new application he has bought on trial, he says he's still a lot to learn and I watch him reading all the directions and plodding through it. 'I am not very good at it yet Mum but I am enjoying it and may save for the full version '. I love the fact that he's called his first build 'The Beast' .

Sam wants to show me what he's learnt so far using Kerbal. I am amazed at how much he's worked out. He shows me how to build a basic space rocket and launches his Kerbal spaceman in to orbit. I took some photos whilst he worked...the excited monologue was  so fast it was hard to keep up with him.

Owen made this ...he emailed it to me with the title 'My Glorious Creation'.

It's jujitsu tonight and Owen is finding it really hard to decide whether to go or not. He always has this type of reaction to going away, even when he's enjoyed himself. Just as Sam and Blokey are about to leave, Owen bursts into tears. Big Blokey cuddles from dad and a mad dash to get his suit on means he makes it after all. He's very tired and still anxious on his return but we are proud he made the class. I cancel our plans for the next day, as he requests quiet time at home. 

After having a bath Owen asks if he can make waffles for his breakfast..so we do.

Here he is singing to his waffle

Sam decided he wanted to carry on and finish his Hama picture for Blokey.

It took ages and lots of checking and concentration . I think it's the biggest thing Sam has tackled for such a long period. He's very proud of himself and can't wait for his Dad to see it.

Meanwhile Owen watched Wildkratts and Sea Monsters (Walking with Dinosaurs series) .

I bought some Petri dishes before we went away, so prepare them ready for an experiment. The boys are highly amused by this. They enjoy taking swabs of their hands, iPad screens and various things around the house. We just need to see what happens next.

Here's how to do it yourself:

http://www.scienceenterprises.com/growingbacteria.aspx

Sam is on a Hama bead quest this week and makes another character from The Undertail game, this one is called Sans.

Owen started a Deadpool design.

The finished piece .

After much deliberation Sam decided to make a Tardis. He found organising his work area ( our multitasking dining table) much easier when Owen showed him the new bowls we had bought.

The finished design. I really liked the way he used light and dark blue beads for shading.

Today we visited the bank..but sadly our local village branch has now closed. Thankfully the children wanted to go to the library across the road too, so all was not lost. It's really bad how we are losing so many local services, luckily our library has been saved and we are so pleased about that! 

The boys took out copious amounts of books and had their customary chat with the staff. After this they decided they could cope with me taking them into the town to pay their coins in and maybe have a quick look at the shops. 

A new bigger bank but the staff weren't as happy to chat to the boys as our village one. They explored the premises....and divided up their money.

We visited the card shop across the road and the kind assistant let them sample some chocolates...yum! The boys helped chose cards for mine and Blokeys mums for Mother's Day too.

Back to the car and a quick journey home..Owen was engrossed in his book and finished it when we got home..he reads so fast, it's hard to keep him in books. Sam got a good selection, including one of Terry Pratchetts children's books, I hope he enjoys it.

Sam wanted to earn some more pocket money, so mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned the bathroom, Owen hung the laundry out. 

We needed some gardening supplies and dog food today, so we all went into town. Owen was struggling in the garden centre, so we broke the trip up with a meal out. I was also glad of this because I had been quite poorly the day before and was still feeling wiped out. They tried Blokeys hat on whilst we waited for our food.

The next day we took the boys swimming, then did some shopping. Blokey and I did a lot of chores, paperwork and had some time in the garden. Later Sam and Blokey played Scrabble, whilst Owen and I played Timeline. There was more reading than usual this week as the boys enjoyed their library haul.

Hama Time, Nana time, Birthdays and Banana bread time.

Sam is finally starting to sleep, he has to continue his medication regime this week but his peak flow is starting to finally come back up. 

Blokey and I get up to open my birthday presents and Sam watches gleefully. Owen didn't get to sleep till late because of his cold, so we leave him to sleep on.

Sam decides to play our fraction game after breakfast and we try the next level of the game, which means we have to work out equivalent fractions mentally. He's initially nervous but after helping him with the first few and a little encouragement, he realises he knows how to do it. We play several rounds, with him getting more and more confident each time.

He realises we haven't played our History game for a while, so finds the Inventions version and we use that.

The fact we have been visiting and watching so much about Victorian History lately , means he has a good idea of where to place some of his inventions. 

We finish with some games of UNO and he's a bit miffed when I win 3 games in a row, so we continue to play until he manages to beat me. 'You had your lucky pants on today Mum!'.

Owen is now in the land of the living and surveys the table full of activities as he is eating his breakfast. We laugh about how old I am and he very politely tells me I don't look my age. *chuckle*. He works out how old I will be when he is 20 , which is the age he has recently decided he will be leaving home.

He would like to play timeline inventions too, and comments on how many inventions were made in Victorian times. We talk about how visiting places really helps with understanding history, 'and documentaries Mum!'. He beats me at all the games bar one.

We played fraction bingo next and just like Sam he wasn't sure he could do the next level. I reminded  him the working out on the first two and he remembered after that. We play a number of games and chuckle as  we go along , talking in Italian accents.

Following this we played some UNO and I won again...Owen reckons it's Birthday luck.

After this the children decide to watch the Hobbit.

We today start with some over ripe bananas and decide to make banana bread. Owen weighs out the ingredients for this recipe:

http://mamabake.com/2016/02/14/wholemeal-banana-bread-brown-sugar-cinnamon/

The finished bake...don't mind if I do.

Next it's Hama time..*cant touch this* . Owen quickly looks up a design and gets to work on his own whilst I clear the baking things away. I am pleased that Owen is finding his feet and able to be self motivated, we can go for 20 mins now before he needs input. He's methodically counting spaces and beads and has made a really good start before he needs help. I sort the colours ready for him, so he can concentrate on his design.

Checking the pattern design against his creation on the board.

The finished Spider-Man Art.

I nearly completely cocked the ironing up due to my head pain...I manage to salvage it and Owen was incredibly gracious about my near miss.

Sam is still not himself and changes his mind constantly about what he wants to do. He watches a wildlife programme whilst I help Owen, then gets in a panic about making a decision. After taking himself off to calm down, he settles on a money handling resource/game. He insists he needs the calculator, then completely abandons it in favour of mental maths. I see this quite often, he thinks he can't do something , then remembers he can and surprises himself. He beats me quickly on the first game, his mood lightens considerably and he decides to play some more.

He wins again and is very happy now.

Sam wants to play Scrabble but it's nearly lunchtime, so I negotiate that we will start and take a break when lunch is ready. Just as well because it turns into a very long game. 

He beats me by 4 points on his last turn..he is triumphant! By this point I am not even sure how to spell  4 letter words , my head is in a right muddle because my pain levels are very bad. I can't seem to get my Gammacore unit to work properly but I am not even sure if it's me or the machine playing up. Turns out it was me, just too many attacks to cope with today and I am mildly hysterical by the time I get to bed.

It's jujitsu class tonight but I am not sure whether to let Sam go or not. He's keen but I am wondering whether another week off maybe prudent. In the end they both decide to go and have a great time. Sam was very tired and a bit grumpy when he got home, so we got them both to bed ASAP.

Sam gets upset about taking his medication this morning, so I explain the importance of taking the full course to try and prevent his cough from returning. I doubt I will get him to manage the antibiotics tomorrow but I will try.

He cheers up when we play Timeline, today he chooses the mixed version , he particularly likes the Bee card. We debate how scientists know bees have been around for such a long time, plus how important bees are to the survival of the human race.

Owen arrives and asks if he can play the in the next game, he munches his breakfast as we go.

Both boys are keen to do some Hama bead crafts again today, so we plan their design ideas.

Sam makes a ' Flowey' from Undertail..here he is..we laugh at how I am taking a picture of him taking a photo.

He's very pleased with the finished piece .

Owen wants to make a character from the same game called Papyrus but on looking we find we don't have enough red beads. He decides to choose an emoji design instead and wait until the bead order we made yesterday arrives.

The finished piece .

They ask me to take a picture of both their work together.

After this the boys ask if they can help with any laundry and we strip the spare bed together. Owen explains to Sam how he uses the washing machine.

We play some UNO before bedtime and I explain to the children that I have a busy day tomorrow. We are going away for my 50th, so I need to sort everyone's things out and arrange the house for the dog sitters ( Blokeys parents). The boys are staying at my parents for a couple of nights, so I make lists regarding medications and another list for myself so I don't forget the copious amounts of stuff the boys need to feel settled whilst away.

Despite the warning that I will be busy, the boys are adamant they want to do Hama bead designs again today. We also write a birthday card for Grandad and wrap his present to take with us.

Sam makes an Alphys.

His finished piece 

After much deliberation Owen. Settles on this design..a 'Napstablook' which would have been quite quick, if I hadn't dropped it when I picked it up to iron the beads. *doh*.

Owen and Sam try to talk me into more work but I explained I had to get on with the packing etc.

In the morning I come down to a little note from Sam.

We drop the children off at my parents for a couple of nights. I am sent regular updates about what they are doing. This includes Scrabble, Wordfued, Timeline history game and a session at the swimming baths. Sam does more writing to show his Grand parents how he is getting better at this skill.

Meanwhile Blokey and I are relaxing, swimming visiting the cathedral and getting engaged.